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Excitement Reigns!!!

Saturday really was the day that the fiber boys arrived. Michael (our transporter) had some problems going up to Oklahoma. The alternator went out in his truck in Shreveport so that had to be fixed. On top of that his stud horse died after he left home and his wife had to take care of that for him. So needless to say, Michael didn’t have a good day Friday.

It was about 9 pm Saturday night when Michael called to say he was on Woodhaven Rd. which is almost in sight of our driveway. I stood at the highway and watched until I saw the lights of his truck pull out onto our highway. That’s Michael driving the truck. His son, Jeremy went with him to help.

Here they are!

Vanessa got the bright idea to hold Jet Kat so she wouldn’t get run over….Vanessa has a few scratches from that encounter and she did some screaming which the Alpacas did not need to hear.

There were 9 adult Alpacas riding quite comfortably in the trailer and Baby Ray was safe in his crate in the back of the truck. They backed the trailer into the paca shed and held the doors against the side of the trailer so the pacas could only go in one direction. We had a gate in place on the south end so they couldn’t go out of the shed in the dark. We didn’t think it was wise to let them roam unfamiliar territory their first night here, even though it’s fenced with 6′ tall chain link or 2×4 no climb fencing.

OK—we’re here and now you want us to do what???

They weren’t too happy about being instructed to get out of the trailer. After all, it had been their quarters for 12 hours. They had plenty hay on the floor to munch on and stops were made to offer them fresh water.

Grandpa—-You’ve got such big teeth!

This is “Ernest” “Victory” but Vanessa says she’s going to change his name to “Mr. Ed”. Kids today don’t have a clue as to who “Mr. Ed” was. This guy really does have huge bottom teeth.

It’s interesting to see how quickly their dispositions are emerging. Sancho is a real cutie-pie. Last night Sancho showed his true colors! They had hay to chew on during the trip but were hungry for pellets. I carefully lined up the buckets on the rail and gave them maybe a cup full each because I didn’t want them to gorge and make theirselves sick. Well, so much for that idea! Sancho tried to eat everybody’s food and pushed and nipped anyone who came too close. They all ate so fast, that yes, they did belch and drool all over their own faces and each other. I stayed out of the way. Lol.

“Sancho”

Remember that Baby Ray is blind. I think he has “some” vision because he doesn’t bump into everything. I think he has a profound depth perception problem and probably can only make out shapes when they’re very close to him. So, if he’s moving very quickly, he may run into something because his vision hasn’t had time to accomodate. He does seem to be able to distinguish abrupt changes in light levels. I’ll admit that I’m not a vet and I don’t have experience with livestock but this is what I think so far.

Yay! He found his bucket!

He found his bucket easily after I rattled it for him and he knows where his waterer is. He is absolutely adorable and I’m looking forward to helping him have a good life. It will be very difficult to not handle him too much, but that’s a mistake with Alpacas. Instead of growing into “pets” that will follow you around and love to be petted, they do the opposite and can be quite mean. It’s called Beserk Alpaca Syndrome. So, even though it would be tempting to coddle him, we won’t do that.

Precious Baby Ray

He was having a ball out of the crate. He rolled back and forth on the floor and was trying to “pronk” which I think means jump up. At 7 months old, he’s quite a little character.

Bullet

This is his buddy, Bullet. Bullet isn’t so thrilled with it but he isn’t mean to Ray and Ray needs someone to hang out with until he gets large enough to go in with the other boys. They have their own fenced portion of the shed and a small field to exercise in.

Here are a couple of videos that Vanessa recorded on her i-Phone. Everyone kept calling them girls. Lol. They are not girls! They’re all geldings except for Baby Ray who is too young. The one I thought was “Theodan” with the fleece covering his eyes is actually “Espionage”.

This second video shows Baby Ray taking his first stroll in his new home.

I’ll post more pictures soon. Hope you enjoyed seeing some of our new boys!

Your should be ok with alpaca because it doesn’t have lanolin which is the irritant that usually causes allergies to wool. We’ll have them shorn annually for the fleece. I’m trying to learn how to spin. There’s a lot that can be done with the alpaca fleece. I want to try my hand at felting also.

Ravonda

they are so cute. you sound like you are learning alot about them. yes I think i would have a hard time not cuddling them. I just want to say congrads and i wish you all the best in your new adventure. thanks for sharing your pics. all the best ravonda